In Part A, as of April 2017, Austria's RHI, a backward integrated refractory company is still within the midst of merging with the next biggest competitor, Brazil's Magnesita, while weighing options for future growth. Should the company pursue organic growth options and if so, which ones? Or should the company embark upon another major merger with the market leader, the UK's Vesuvius? Given anemic growth rates in the refractory industry and an aggressive consolidation plan by the Chinese government to create a global refractory giant, the newly installed CEO, Stefan Borgas, is debating the best way forward: organic growth or another major merger? In Part B, as of August 2018, the successfully merged enterprise, RHI Magnesita, is thinking through the next move on their growth path. Should the company diversify into adjacent product types such as high-temperature insulation (HTI) and/or advanced ceramics (AC)?

Contrary to existing literature, startups can be successful orchestrators of ecosystems. Based on nine qualitative case studies, this article introduces four archetypes that shed light on how a startup can fulfill the tasks of an orchestrator and overcome challenges. The findings identify dimensions of standardization/customization and sources of value creation as defining the role of ecosystem orchestrators and demonstrate the consequences for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), corporates, investors, and accelerators involved in such ecosystems.

In 2013, the Swiss sports data company Sportradar debated whether to expand from its core business of data provision to bookmakers into sports media products. Sports data was becoming a commodity, and in the future, sports leagues might reduce their dependence on third-party data feeds such as Sportradar's, prefering to develop data services in-house. Thus, CEO Carsten Koerl believed the company needed to branch into sports media, not just supplying data to companies, but finding ways to tell stories about that data. However, Sportradar's core business was thriving, whereas a recent attempt to branch out into video player tracking systems had proved a costly failure. The team weighed the pros and cons of various media ventures, including online sports betting minigames, a social media site, and streaming of sports content.

This case explores the strategic decision-making process of premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 1999, when the company was considering implementing a fleet management system in the construction industry. Fleet management would involve a shift from selling power tools to leasing them as a service. For Hilti, it represented an entirely new business model, which would substantially differentiate the company from its competitors. While fleet management had the potential to significantly improve the customer experience, Hilti was already a successful firm under its extant model, and had to decide whether the restructuring of its business model was worth the risk.

This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the construction industry by the premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 2000. Following its customers' needs, Hilti moved from selling power tools to leasing them as a service. The introduction of the new business model contributed significantly to the success of Hilti, since it sustainably differentiated the company from its competitors. For instance, the adoption of fleet management resulted in customer loyalty levels five times higher than under the dominant business model Hilti had formerly employed, and over-proportioned profit contribution at Hilti. Hilti's Chief Technology Officer described the importance of the innovation as follows: "Hilti developed many very innovative and successful products over the years, but they paled in comparison with the fleet management business model, which was the most important innovation in Hilti's history." All told, Hilti, which had about 22,000 employees and made about 4.5 billion Swiss Francs (or $4.589 billion USD) in sales in 2015, managed 1.5 million tools under fleet management contracts in 40 countries, resulting in a contract value of more than 1.2 billion Swiss Francs (approximately $1.4 billion USD). Case A describes the strategic decision-making process regarding the introduction of fleet management in its early planning stages. Case B (separate) tackles the implementation and scaling process of fleet management over the years and explores current challenges facing the BMI.

The (B) case tackles the implementation and scaling process of fleet management over the years. Finally, the case explores current challenges facing the BMI.